“Nigeria Must Adopt a Single Seven-Year Term to Stabilise Governance” — LASU Professor

Professor Adewunmi Falode of Lagos State University has called for a constitutional review to allow a single, non-renewable seven-year term for Nigeria’s elected public office holders, arguing it would stabilize governance and reduce political waste. He made the appeal during LASU’s 115th inaugural lecture, titled “Bespoke Solutions: Reimagining, Reifying and Realigning the Wheels of the Nigerian State,” at the Buba Marwa Auditorium on Tuesday.

Falode aligned his proposal with earlier suggestions from political figures including Governor Seyi Makinde, former Governor Peter Obi, economist Pat Utomi, and ex-Senate Deputy President Ike Ekweremadu, who have recommended single terms of five to six years. He described the current two-term, four-year system as “wasteful” and responsible for an “unstable, combustible and misaligned” political environment, where officials spend significant time fending off election petitions and preparing for re-election, leaving only a few months for effective governance.

Highlighting international examples, Falode pointed to Mexico and the Philippines, where six-year single terms are in place. He suggested that a seven-year term in Nigeria could provide four years of stable governance, with the remaining three years accommodating campaigns and the resolution of electoral disputes. He also criticized the high costs of elections, citing figures from 1983 to 2022, noting that post-election litigations and other incidentals are not factored into these already enormous expenditures.

Falode further urged the country to adopt “competitive federalism,” a system featuring a weak or decentralized central government with strong states, to address long-standing fractures in Nigeria’s governance structure. He commended President Bola Tinubu’s 2025 Tax Reforms Bill as a step toward fiscal federalism, allowing states more autonomy in revenue generation and public infrastructure development.

On national integration, Falode emphasized compulsory education up to the secondary level, citing China’s approach to literacy and social cohesion as a model for reducing ethnic and religious extremism in Nigeria. He argued that tailored education would strengthen national identity, economic competitiveness, and social stability.

Tracing Nigeria’s political and social challenges to British colonialism and the system of indirect rule, Falode said post-independence leaders could have avoided many governance crises by adhering more closely to federalism, regionalism, and multiparty democracy. He noted that these frameworks, if properly adjusted to local realities, would have provided a solid foundation for democratic stability in the multi-ethnic nation.

Dignitaries at the lecture included the Olota of Ota, Oba Abdulkabir Obalanlege; LASU Vice-Chancellor Prof Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, represented by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Taiwo Afisi; LASU Registrar Emmanuel Fanu; and PUNCH Newspapers Managing Director Joseph Adeyeye.